Yesterday we discussed the importance of assessing and evaluating your not for profit’s fundraising efforts but what do you do with the data?

Today I want to show you how you can make your results work for you to raise your organisation’s profile.

I read an article at LAPA Fundraising which showed how one organisation was able to receive money based purely on the data they had collected. Even though the specific service which was originally the subject of a grant was terminated, the organisation was still given a grant and it was for an even higher value than the original.

How did that happen?

Well, they made the data work hard for them.  They looked back over the last couple of years, took their results and incorporated them into promotional material.  They used them in their speaking topics at conferences, prepared a booklet summarising their outcomes and the results their efforts made for their target group.  The booklet was an attachment to their grant application, too.

Perhaps you’ve never thought of using all that data as the basis for your marketing campaign but you could be sitting on a gold mine.

Take a look at your data.  Where are the successes?  How can you demonstrate them as data and from the end results (emotional connection) angle?

If you can prove that you are raising money in the most cost-effective and profitable way and that your work is making a difference, what do you think that means to potential new donors?

If the idea of trawling through the last few years of data doesn’t thrill you, keep your eye on the goal.  What you do now will have a huge impact on your future success.